In years past, we’ve seen hundreds of products advertised as things that were going to change the world.
Two men in suits sit on a bench. The text reads, “THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER.”
While some actually turned out to be wildly successful and revolutionary, others ended up as total flops. In case you wanted to take a trip down memory lane to be reminded of society’s biggest fails, you’re in the right place. In one Reddit thread, people shared the biggest flops that were hyped as the “next big thing,” and it’s veryyyy interesting to look back on some of these.
Here’s 20 of the biggest fails of the last few decades, as told by Reddit users:
1.“Google+ was supposed to be the big Facebook Killer. It was invite-only to start, and everyone wanted in — then once they had it, nobody fucking cared.”
Close-up of smartphone screen showing Google+ and Facebook app icons
–will_write_for_tacos
2.“3D TVs.”
Person sitting on a couch, holding popcorn, watching TV in a living room with a fireplace and bookshelf
–Mooseagery
3.“Had to be Quibi. My sister worked in marketing and wouldn’t shut up about how it was going to change streaming forever. Spent millions on ads, got huge celebrities involved, and died faster than my New Year’s resolutions.”
Person holding a phone with the “Quibi” app logo on the screen
–CuteNBeautiful
4.“The Ouya was touted to revolutionize gaming and was one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns. Turns out, nobody really wanted what was essentially mobile phone tech as a TV box with barely any good games. It crashed and burned.”
–oomoepoo
5.“The Metaverse. I was on a camping trip with a guy who worked in finance when it debuted and he was looking for internet connections to make purchases of virtual spaces and saying that we should all buy virtual real estate in the Metaverse. I passed.”
Person laughing while using a virtual reality headset in a casual indoor setting
–Waagawaaga
6.“Microsoft Zune. From what I understand, management thought it was such an iPod killer that they performed a funeral for the iPod.”
Two hands holding an iPod and a Zune music player, showing size comparison. Zune’s screen displays an image
–NurseProject123
7.“The Segway or whatever that thing is called. It’s creator kept increasing expectations about how his creation that would change the world, going on TV everywhere. Then, a year or so later, he revealed it, and people were like ‘Oh, OK.'”
–Raigheb
8.“Mini-disks. I loved mine, but it never seemed to catch on and then there were MP3s.”
–Polz34
9.“Google Glasses, but I just think it was too early. I think something similar will be mainstream in maybe like 10-20 years.”
A man wearing a suit smiles while adjusting Google Glass smart eyewear on stage
–SGKurisu
10.“CueCat. Scanning barcodes on your computer was supposed to make our lives easier somehow. Actually, on second thought, I’m not surprised it failed.”
–thinkdeep
11.“I remember at the beginning of the pandemic; the HouseParty app was touted as being the thing that would keep us all connected while we were distancing ourselves from each other. After like 2 weeks, I never heard of it again.”
A hand holds a phone displaying the Houseparty app logo, in front of a laptop screen showing the same logo and text
–TheSilkyBat
12.“Nabaztag. It was THE thing in 2005 and then came smartphones and Alexa. Sorry little bunny, you were too good for this world.
Animated bunny-shaped devices displaying various light patterns
–giftiguana
13.“Sega Dreamcast. Was the first game console with online gaming, only to be brutally destroyed by Sony’s PlayStation 2.”
-Burned-Shoulder
14.“Threads was supposed to replace Twitter but they forgot to actually do anything with it.”
–Electronic-Hope-1
15.“Dippin Dots. Ice Cream of the future my ass.”
Person holding a small cup of Dippin’ Dots ice cream with a spoon, in an outdoor setting with people in the background
–linus81
16.“VR, they keep trying to make it happen, but i feel like it’ll never take until the headsets are cheap, lightweight, and free from cables. We couldn’t convince people to wear 3D glasses in their own homes, how are we going to convince them to wear what amounts to an expensive bicycle helmet with cords hanging out the back?”
–TotallyCasual
17.“The Concord video game. They spent ridiculous amounts of money to not only create a game, but a brand new dominant IP. It failed within 2 weeks.”
–SprinklesMore8471
18.“Curved televisions. CURVED. TELEVISIONS.”
–DoritoLipDust
19.“Crystal Pepsi.”
Bottles of Crystal Pepsi are chilled in a bucket of ice, displayed against a brick wall background
–Guest1019
20.“Fake meat. I was hoping that by now, it would be cheaper than beef and a more compelling substitute. Like, surely, mixing some plant proteins together at scale should eventually become cheaper than raising a whole ass cow, right?”
–Werner_Herzogs_Dream
Do you think anything else belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!
